It's a gorgeous day at the farmette, and we managed to get our new deck furniture put together before the deluge yesterday. Man. It rained. HARD.
This year, we certainly haven't had to worry about irrigating. In fact, I'm a bit trepidatious about venturing into the veg garden. I have a feeling it'll be like a scene from Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. That's today's agenda - wrestle the tomato situation and do some serious canning. Last week, we played tourist guide for my friend Jane from Toronto. A road trip to Lion's Head on the Bruce Peninsula was timed just for their Homecoming Weekend. The little town was bustling with friends and family getting together to celebrate its 100th anniversary. For once, it was HOT and SUNNY, like a summer weekend should be.
First stop was lunch at Rachel's 50s diner. Like most small town operations, it has about three businesses in one - with clothing and jewelry on offer, as well as tasty restaurant fare. The food was fantastic - I had a reuben with sauerkraut and home fries. YUM. Jane and I topped it off by splitting a homemade butter tart that was to die for...not too gooey, but gooey enough and the crust was heavenly light and flaky.
The beach was alive with tonnes of kids and moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas - a quite serious sand sculpture competition was under way, and I particularly liked the friendly-looking turtle that was nearly finished construction.
There are cool signs everywhere around the harbour talking about how Lion's Head is one of the best places for star-gazing because there's a concerted effort in the town to reduce light pollution. In fact, Lion's Head is a Dark Sky Community - something I'd never heard of, but the idea is to have a place where you can see thousands of stars. There's an active astronomy club in the area, and it was encouraging to see the town promoting this natural advantage.
Another claim to fame is how it got its name - apparently, when viewed from Georgian Bay, the rock formation that juts out from the community looks like the king of the jungle. Couldn't quite see it from where we were sitting, but the scenery was still breathtaking.
Jane suggested it would be a great trip to make in the fall to see the colours ranged along the cliffside leading into town - something we're seriously considering doing.
Finally, we wound up at the lighthouse, which was originally built in 1903 and had many iterations over the decades - owing to its exposure to the tempestuous Georgian Bay wind and waters - until becoming automated in 1969. Now, like most of the older lighthouses on the Great Lakes, it's decommissioned and serves as a reminder of years gone by.
It was a fantastic day-trip and well worth the two- hour drive from the farmette. It's nice to get away and see some of the many gorgeous sights that are in and around the Grey-Bruce area.
Now, it's time to take a close look at my own back yard and the many juicy Romas that are waiting to be plucked, sauced and canned. Until next week...